Good morning angels,
Another week, another Friday Five. I am too tired to wax poetic in this intro but this is my tenth Friday Five! Ten weeks of this. I hope I’ve brought you smiles, laughter, a head bob, a sigh of relief. If you’re reading this now, please unclench your jaw, roll your neck around, stretch out your arms and let out a long exhale (count to four). You made it, we did it. Thanks for being here on my writing journey.
Songs (Two!): Janet Jackson was the last show I had tickets to pre-pandemic, for the 25th anniversary of Rhythm Nation. While I’m gutted that show never came to fruition, I practice gratitude for her musical talents in the form of singing and impromptu dance routines on a weekly basis. “Someone To Call My Lover” off her seventh studio album All For You is sunshine and smiles in musical form. Even the single’s Wikipedia page says critics mostly “prais[ed] its innocence and sweet aura.” Imagine the person paid to critique your work says it has a “sweet aura” — I could spend a whole newsletter unpacking this cute little term. Anyway, the song samples the guitar riff from America’s “Ventura Highway,” which is one of my personal favorite Caucasian bops. Both songs are one I play repeatedly anytime I’m in the state of California — on a recent summer road trip, I was shocked when my feyoncé sang all the words to “Someone To Call My Lover” down to the “strong smart affectionate” lyrical breakdown. Apologies to be corny on main™️ but that moment really made me feel like I found someone to call my lover (yeah baby c’mon).
Movie: "Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address."
It’s fall in New York which means it’s “You’ve Got Mail” season. Apparently this is a polarizing movie to some, but I am a sucker for the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan pairing. This movie makes me smile, makes me want to cry, makes me want lay still watching it like that one image of Kim Kardashian and let the feelings take over.
Recipe: I made this crispy chocolate cake with hazelnut and sour cream sauce after seeing my friend Chloe post a photo of swirling egg whites into chocolate cake batter on her Instagram. All I needed was one image of the process to know this cake was meant for me. Both the cake and corresponding sauce ask for Nutella - I used the bougie Italian version Nocciolata because I wanted to ‘go all out’ and honestly don’t do that. I used an entire jar of the fancy stuff, and you absolutely can’t tell the difference or taste the hazelnut much in any of this. But the cake is delicious and the sauce is divine - taste it before you even put the hazelnut spread in and you’ll see that it’s tart, sweet, and rich. A cake sauce with a sweet aura for sure.
Joyful Internet Content:
Whoever did this, I salute you, King/Padishah:
No more drama,
Roya
i watched you've got mail last night! love <3